1981 Chevrolet Corvette - Beauty And Beast

This Big-Block '81 Wasn't Built To Be A Trailer Queen

As with any build that isn't a straight remove-and-replace job, some other problems cropped up, which Cagle solved. One had to do with the wiring, and how to connect a set of AutoMeter Phantom gauges to it. "As you know, the Corvette electrical system has all those ribbon cables with plug-in connectors," he says. "To put regular gauges in it, you have to cut the plug-wiring harnesses all off, then chase everything down-from turn signals to high-beams to everything you're gonna do-and then rewire the whole car, basically." Cagle also installed NASCAR-style switch gear for the electrics.

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For the exhaust system, Cagle wanted to run a set of side pipes, but ones that didn't look like the'69 Stingray's factory RPO N14 side-mounts-and he wanted them to match the "blackout" chrome trim he put on the body. He chose Hooker's 4-inch-diameter "Show Tubes," which needed some fabricating help to connect with the McJack's headers and their 21/2-inch collectors. "We had to do some sizing down, and I had to use an exhaust elbow from a tractor-trailer to make that turn up under that car." The exhaust system also has a set of Pypes electric cut-outs, controlled by a switch on the console where the emergency brake handle used to be.

Once complete, Cagle had a C3 that was ready to run. What's it like to drive? "Believe it or not, it drives absolutely marvelous," he says. "When you get out on the road, it's an absolute dream. I'm only running about 1,800-1,900 rpm at 75 [mph], and with the four-link keeping the rear tires straight and the Steeroids rack in the front, it drives like a dream. And it's extremely quick!"

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For too many people, the factory-equipped C3s from '72 onward weren't as quick as their midyear and early-shark predecessors. Cagle says that those much-maligned third-gens are worth a look as a project car. "Right now, the C3s are the next group of cars that people are going to be able to go out and purchase at a pretty good price, build back to a nice driver car, and still be able to make some money on it, and not get upside-down," he says. "Maybe not a numbers-matching restoration, but if you want to make a nice restomod out of a C3, that is the best-looking Corvette body style ever made."

Corvette owners have had a love-hate relationship with side pipes ever since their debut in 1965. Some love the look and sound they produce, giving small-blocks the authority of a big-block. » Read More